Jones consoles Bryant; Garrett asked about red-zone play-calling

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spent a few minutes in the locker room after Sunday’s 17-16 loss to the Chiefs consoling Dez Bryant after the receiver dropped what could have been a long touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

“I took my eyes off the ball,” Bryant said. “I shouldn’t have. That was a real bad mistake on my end. That is not winning football.”

It was a rare mistake for Bryant, who torched the Chiefs for nine catches for 141 yards and a touchdown after double coverage limited him to four catches for 22 yards in last week’s 36-31 win over the New York Giants.

“They all drop ’em,” Jones said. “Dez catches a lot more than he drops.”
Quarterback Tony Romo called Bryant’s drop, which came with Kansas City leading 17-13, an “anomaly.”

“Obviously, we want that one,” Romo said. “He’s as disappointed as anybody. He beats himself up more than anybody else will. We’ve just go to make plays. He knows that.”

Curiously, Dallas didn’t give Bryant a chance to make one play that could have turned the game.

With his team leading 10-7 and facing third-and-goal at the nine-yard line, Romo threw a screen pass to rookie Terrance Williams that resulted in a 3-yard loss.

It was a puzzling call, considering Bryant had single coverage on the outside.

“I don’t want to get into the specifics of any of those calls and how they were implemented,” coach Jason Garrett said. “We got behind the chains in that situation (with a sack and a penalty), so it’s hard to be third-and-goal. Those are hard plays to call.”